®WISC - download.e-bookshelf.de · series, including Essentials of WJ III™ Cognitive Abilities Assessment and Essentials of Cross-Battery Assessment. ALAN S. KAUFMAN, PHD, is Professor

Quickly acquire the knowledge and skills you need to confidently administer, score, and interpret the WISC®-IV

Psychology FlanaganKaufm

an

Alan S. Kaufman & Nadeen L. Kaufman, Series Editors

Essentials of WISC®-IV Assessment

Dawn P. FlanaganAlan S. Kaufman

Second Edition

Complete coverage of administration, scoring,

interpretation, and reporting

Expert advice on avoiding common pitfalls

Conveniently formatted for rapid reference

IncludesCD-ROM

IncludesCD-ROM

Essentials of WISC

®-IV A

ssessment

Essentials of WISC®-IV Assessment, Second Edition applies a new, expanded theory-based approach to interpreting the latest edition of the WISC® and provides beginning and sea-

soned clinicians with comprehensive step-by-step guidelines to administering, scoring, and interpreting this latest revision of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children®.Like all the volumes in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series, this book is designed to help busy mental health professionals quickly acquire the knowledge and skills they need to make optimal use of a major psychological assessment instrument. Each concise chapter features numerous callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illus-trative material, as well as test questions that help you gauge and reinforce your grasp of the information covered.The Second Edition also includes a CD-ROM containing user-friendly software that automates the now expanded, theory-based interpretive system for the WISC®-IV. In addition, the Second Edition addresses the utility of the general ability and cognitive proficiency indices; includes newly available research on ethnic differences; updates information on the use of the WISC®-IV with clinical populations; includes a new chapter by George McCloskey with comprehensive coverage of the WISC®-IV Integrated; and includes a new case report that integrates response to intervention and cognitive assessment for SLD diagnosis. Fully updated and revised with the latest research findings published since the first edition, Essentials of WISC®-IV Assessment, Second Edition provides students and practitioners with an unparalleled resource for learning and application, including expert assessment of the test’s relative strengths and weaknesses, valuable advice on its clinical applications, and illuminating case reports.

DAWN P. FLANAGAN, PHD, is Professor of Psychology and Director of the School of Psychology Training Programs at St. John’s University in Jamaica, NY, and Clinical Assistant Professor at the Yale Child Study Center. She is the author or coauthor of several popular books in the Essentials series, including Essentials of WJ III™ Cognitive Abilities Assessment and Essentials of Cross-Battery Assessment.ALAN S. KAUFMAN, PHD, is Professor of Psychology at Yale University’s Child Study Center in the School of Medicine and the Series Editor with Nadeen L. Kaufman of Wiley’s Essentials of Psychological Assessment series. Dr. Kaufman worked closely with David Wechsler in the development and standardization of the WISC®-R, an earlier version of the test; has written numerous books on the Wechsler Scales and intelligence testing; and is the author of several popular assessment instruments used worldwide.

Visit us on the Web at: www.wiley.com/psychology

Second Edition

Essentials of Assessment Report WritingEssentials of Cross-Battery Assessment, Second EditionEssentials of WJ III™ Tests of Achievement AssessmentEssentials of WJ III™ Cognitive Abilities Assessment

Essentials of School Neuropsychological AssessmentEssentials of Creativity AssessmentEssentials of DAS-II® AssessmentEssentials of Evidence-Based Academic Interventions

Other titles in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series:

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Essentials of

WISC®-IV Assessment

Second Edition

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Essentials of Psychological Assessment SeriesSeries Editors, Alan S. Kaufman and Nadeen L. Kaufman

Essentials of WAIS ®-III Assessment

by Alan S. Kaufman and Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger

Essentials of CAS Assessment

by Jack A. Naglieri

Essentials of Forensic Psychological Assessment

by Marc J. Ackerman

Essentials of Bayley Scales of Infant Development–II Assessment

by Maureen M. Black and Kathleen Matula

Essentials of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator ® Assessment

by Naomi Quenk

Essentials of WISC-III ® and WPPSI-R ® Assessment

by Alan S. Kaufman and Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger

Essentials of Rorschach ® Assessment

by Tara Rose, Nancy Kaser-Boyd, and Michael P. Maloney

Essentials of Career Interest Assessment

by Jeffrey P. Prince and Lisa J. Heiser

Essentials of Cognitive Assessment with KAIT and Other

Kaufman Measures

by Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger, Debra Broadbooks, and Alan S. Kaufman

Essentials of Nonverbal Assessment

by Steve McCallum, Bruce Bracken, and John Wasserman

Essentials of MMPI-2 ™ Assessment

by David S. Nichols

Essentials of NEPSY ® Assessment

by Sally L. Kemp, Ursula Kirk, and Marit Korkman

Essentials of Individual Achievement Assessment

by Douglas K. Smith

Essentials of TAT and Other Storytelling Techniques Assessment

by Hedwig Teglasi

Essentials of WJ III™ Tests of Achievement Assessment

by Nancy Mather, Barbara J. Wendling, and Richard W. Woodcock

Essentials of WJ III™ Cognitive Abilities Assessment

by Fredrick A. Schrank, Dawn P. Flanagan, Richard W. Woodcock, and Jennifer T. Mascolo

Essentials of WMS®-III Assessment

by Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger, Alan S. Kaufman, and Zona C. Lai

Essentials of MMPI-A™ Assessment

by Robert P. Archer and Radhika Krishnamurthy

Essentials of Neuropsychological Assessment

by Nancy Hebben and William Milberg

Essentials of Behavioral Assessment

by Michael C. Ramsay, Cecil R. Reynolds, and R. W. Kamphaus

Essentials of PAI ® Assessment

by Leslie C. Morey

Essentials of 16 PF ® Assessment

by Heather E.-P. Cattell and James M. Schuerger

Essentials of WPPSI ™-III Assessment

by Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger and Alan S. Kaufman

Essentials of Assessment Report Writing

by Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger, Nancy Mather, Nadeen L. Kaufman, and Alan S. Kaufman

Essentials of Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (SB5) Assessment

by Gale H. Roid and R. Andrew Barram

Essentials of WISC ®-IV Assessment, Second Edition

by Dawn P. Flanagan and Alan S. Kaufman

Essentials of KABC-II Assessment

by Alan S. Kaufman, Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger, Elaine Fletcher-Janzen, and Nadeen L. Kaufman

Essentials of Processing Assessment

by Milton J. Dehn

Essentials of WIAT ®-II and KTEA-II Assessment

by Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger and Donna R. Smith

Essentials of Assessment with Brief Intelligence Tests

by Susan R. Homack and Cecil R. Reynolds

Essentials of School Neuropsychological Assessment

by Daniel C. Miller

Essentials of Cross-Battery Assessment, Second Edition

by Dawn P. Flanagan, Samuel O. Ortiz, and Vincent C. Alfonso

Essentials of Millon™ Inventories Assessment, Third Edition

by Stephen Strack

Essentials of Creativity Assessment

by James C. Kaufman, Jonathan A. Plucker, and John Baer

Essentials of DAS-II ® Assessment

by Ron Dumont, John O. Willis, and Colin D. Elliot

Essentials of WNV ™ Assessment

by Kimberly A. Brunnert, Jack A. Naglieri, and Steven T. Hardy-Braz

Essentials of WRAML2 and TOMAL-2 Assessment

by Wayne Adams and Cecil R. Reynolds

Essentials of Evidence-Based Academic Interventions

by Barbara J. Wendling and Nancy Mather

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John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Essentialsof WISC®-IV Assessment

Second Edition

Dawn P. Flanagan

Alan S. Kaufman

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This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400 or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifi cally disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fi tness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profi t or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:Flanagan, Dawn P. Essentials of WISC-IV assessment / Dawn P. Flanagan, Alan S. Kaufman.—2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. 516) and indexes. ISBN 978-0-470-18915-3 (paper/CD-ROM) 1. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. I. Kaufman, Alan S., 1944- II. Title. BF432.5.W42F58 2009 155.4’1393—dc22 2008040280Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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www.wiley.com

For Megan,

Thank you for fi lling each day with love and joy,

for “working” at the desk beside mine, inspiring me daily

and for reminding me to play.

I love you

— Mom

For Nadeen,

Mon coeur d’ouvre à ta voix My heart at your dear voiceComme s’ouvrent les fl eurs, Does unfold and rejoiceAux baisers de l’aurore! Like a fl ower when dawn is smiling!Mais, ô mon bien ai mé You can my weeping stay.Pom mieux secher mes pleurs My sadness charm awayAvec ta voix parle encore! With your tones so beguiling!Ainsi qu’on voit des bles As when a fi eld of grainLes é pis enduler Like the waves on the main,Sous la brise légère, In the breeze is swaying, bounding,Ainsi frémit mon coeur. So all my heart is swayed.

Samson et Dalila, Act II, Scene IIICamille Saint-Saëns (libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire)

With love always,

Alan

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ix

CONTENTS

Series Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Authors xiv

Contributors xv

One Introduction and Overview 1

Two How to Administer the WISC-IV 53

Three How to Score the WISC-IV 106

Four How to Interpret the WISC-IV 133

Five Strengths and Weaknesses of the WISC-IV 202

Six Clinical Applications: A Review of Special Group Studies with the WISC-IV and Assessment of Low-Incidence Populations 216

Seven Clinical Applications: Assessment of Gifted, Learning Disabled, and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations 262

Eight The WISC-IV Integrated 310

Nine Illustrative Case Reports 468

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X CONTENTS

Contents of the CD-ROM:

The WISC-IV Data Management and Interpretive Assistant (WISC-IV DMIA) v1.0, an automated program for WISC-IV Interpretation

Norms Tables for WISC-IV Clinical Clusters

Information for Linking WISC-IV Results to Educational Strategies and Instructional Supports

Appendix A Defi nitions of CHC Abilities and Processes

Appendix B CHC Abilities and Processes Measured by Current Intelligence Tests

Appendix C WISC-IV Subtest g-Loadings, by Age Group and Overall Sample

Appendix D Psychometric, Theoretical, and Qualitative Characteristics of the WISC-IV

Appendix E WISC-IV Interpretive Worksheet

Appendix F1 General Ability Index (GAI) Conversion Table: U.S. and Canadian Norms

Appendix F2 Cognitive Profi ciency Index (CPI) Conversion Table

Appendix G Summary of Analyses of WISC-IV Indexes

Appendix H Norms Tables for Clinical Clusters

Appendix I Linking WISC-IV Assessment Results to Educational Strategies and Instructional Supports

References 516

Annotated Bibliography 532

Index 534

About the CD-ROM 556

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xi

SERIES PREFACE

In the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series, we have attempted to provide the reader with books that will deliver key practical information in the most effi cient and accessible style. The series features instruments in a variety of

domains, such as cognition, personality, education, and neuropsychology. For the experienced clinician, books in the series will offer a concise yet thorough way to master utilization of the continuously evolving supply of new and revised instru-ments as well as a convenient method for keeping up-to-date on the tried-and-true measures. The novice will fi nd here a prioritized assembly of all the information and techniques that must be at one’s fi ngertips to begin the complicated process of individual psychological diagnosis.

Wherever feasible, visual shortcuts to highlight key points are utilized alongside systematic, step-by-step guidelines. Chapters are focused and suc-cinct. Topics are targeted for an easy understanding of the essentials of admin-istration, scoring, interpretation, and clinical application. Theory and research are continually woven into the fabric of each book but always to enhance clini-cal inference, never to sidetrack or overwhelm. We have long been advocates of what has been called intelligent testing—the notion that a profi le of test scores is meaningless unless it is brought to life by the clinical observations and astute detective work of knowledgeable examiners. Test profi les must be used to make a difference in the child’s or adult’s life, or why bother to test? We want this series to help our readers become the best intelligent testers they can be.

In the fi rst edition of Essentials of WISC-IV Assessment, the authors applied a fresh, new, theory-based approach to interpret the latest edition of an old fa-vorite. Just as the publishers of the fourth edition of the WISC departed from Wechsler’s traditional Verbal-Performance IQ discrepancy approach, so too did

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XII SERIES PREFACE

Dawn Flanagan and Alan Kaufman bring innovation into the crucial task of making test profi les come alive for clinicians in every discipline. But much has happened in the fi ve years since the fi rst edition was published, necessitating a second edition to meet the challenges of assessment in the 2010s. In this revised edition, the authors deal with: (a) the passage of IDEA in 2004 and its ongoing statewide implementation; (b) the emergence of the WISC-IV Integrated on the assessment scene; (c) an expanded research base on the WISC-IV, including new test reviews; (d) and the development of a new, interesting clinical WISC-IV com-posite, the Cognitive Processing Index. This new edition, fully equipped with a CD-ROM to automate Flanagan and Kaufman’s interpretive method, a new case study that demonstrates the use of cognitive assessment within an RTI service delivery model, and a new chapter on the WISC-IV Integrated (guest written by George McCloskey) offers a cutting-edge resource to help practitioners best meet the pressing needs for quality cognitive assessment in today’s changing society.

Alan S. Kaufman, PhD, and Nadeen L. Kaufman, EdD, Series Editors

Yale University School of Medicine

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xiii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to acknowledge several people for their special and extraordinary contributions. We wish to express our deepest appre-ciation to Alissa Bindiger, whose review of our work signifi cantly

enhanced the quality of this book. Alissa’s dedication and commitment were truly remarkable. We are also particularly grateful to George McCloskey for providing a chapter on the WISC-IV Integrated; to Brad Hale for providing a case report for inclusion in this book; to Elizabeth Lichtenberger for the countless hours she spent programming the WISC-IV Data Management and Interpretive Assistant

(DMIA) and for revising her section on clinical applications of the WISC-IV; and to Steven Hardy-Braz, Darielle Greenberg, Nancy Hebben, Jennifer Mascolo, Samuel Ortiz, Martin Volker, and Audrey Smerbeck for graciously revising, up-dating, and enhancing their sections on the diverse clinical applications of the WISC-IV. We also appreciate the insightful comments and feedback of Marlene Sotelo-Dynega, Thomas Kot, Agnieszka Dynda, Jennifer Kerrigan, and Vincent Alfonso, who dedicated their time and clinical expertise to ensure that this book and the automated WISC-IV DMIA would be maximally useful to practitioners.

Finally, the contributions of Isabel Pratt, Sweta Gupta, and the rest of the staff at Wiley are gratefully acknowledged. Their expertise and pleasant and coopera-tive working style made this book an enjoyable and productive endeavor.

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xiv

Dawn P. Flanagan, PhDSt. John’s UniversityJamaica, NY

Alan S. Kaufman, PhDYale Child Study CenterYale University School of MedicineNew Haven, CT

AUTHORS

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xv

CONTRIBUTORS

Darielle Greenberg, PsyDLicensed PsychologistPrivate PracticeRichardson, TX

James B. Hale, PhDPhiladelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Philadelphia, PA

Steven Hardy-Braz, PsyS, NCSPU. S. Department of DefenseFort Bragg, NC

Nancy Hebben, PhD, ABPP-ABCNHarvard Medical SchoolBoston, MA

Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger, PhDLicensed PsychologistPrivate PracticeCarlsbad, CA

Jennifer T. Mascolo, PsyDColumbia University Teacher’s College New York, NY

George McCloskey, PhDPhiladelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Philadelphia, PA

Samuel O. Ortiz, PhDSt. John’s UniversityJamaica, NY

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Martin A. Volker, PhDState University of New York at BuffaloBuffalo, NY

Audrey M. Smerback, ABUniversity of RochesterRochester, NY

XVI CONTRIBUTORS

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1

One

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

There are more individually administered tests of intelligence and IQ avail-able today than were available at any other time in the history of psycho-logical assessment and applied measurement. Despite all the innovations

and exemplary quantitative and qualitative characteristics of new and recently revised intelligence tests, the Wechsler scales continue to reign supreme. In fact, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fourth Edition (WISC-IV)—like its predecessor, the WISC-III—has quickly become the most widely used measure of intelligence the world over. Because the latest edition of the WISC represented the most substantial revision of any Wechsler scale to date, we developed, in the fi rst edition of this book, an interpretive system for the WISC-IV that was quite different from Wechsler interpretive systems of the past (e.g., Flanagan, McGrew, & Ortiz, 2000; Kaufman & Lichtenberger, 1999). For example, the elimination of the Verbal and Performance IQs required us to reconceptualize previous systems completely. Also, the proliferation of anti-profi le research and writing, primarily by Glutting, Watkins, and colleagues, and the anti-profi le sentiment that currently characterizes the fi eld, impelled us to deal with the interpretive system not just as an empirical, logical, and theoretical endeavor, but also as a controversial topic. Finally, the nature of the contemporary scene, which has undergone substantial changes in test usage based on the wording of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) legislation in 2004 and its attendant regulations in 2006, forced us to think outside of the box with an eye toward the future. Thus, the fi rst edition of this book provided a psychometrically and theoretically defen-sible system of interpreting the WISC-IV and we believe we achieved our goal of anticipating what best practices in the use of the Wechsler scales would be in the coming decade (Flanagan, Ortiz, Alfonso, & Dynda, 2008). Our main rea-sons for this second edition were to update the research that has been conducted with the WISC-IV since the fi rst edition of this book was published in 2004; to provide more detailed information on how to link WISC-IV assessment results to research-based interventions; to extend our interpretive system to include an interesting new cluster, the Cognitive Processing Index or CPI (Weiss, Saklofske,

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2 WISC-IV ESSENTIALS

Schwartz, Prifi tera, & Courville, 2006); to demonstrate how the WISC-IV Inte-grated can complement information gleaned from the WISC-IV; and to include a CD-ROM with a software program that automates our interpretive system. Note that the CD-ROM also contains all the Appendixes to this book. Each appendix may be downloaded for your convenience.

Similar to our previous writings on the Wechsler scales, our main objective was to provide a comprehensive and user-friendly reference for those who use the WISC-IV. This book was developed specifi cally for those who test children be-tween the ages of 6 and 16 and wish to learn the essentials of WISC-IV assessment and interpretation in a direct and systematic manner. The main topics included in this book are administration, scoring, interpretation, and clinical application of the WISC-IV. In addition, this book highlights the most salient strengths and limitations of this instrument. Throughout the book, important information and key points are highlighted in Rapid Reference, Caution, and Don’t Forget boxes. In addition, tables and fi gures are used to summarize critical information and to explain important concepts and procedures, respectively. Finally, each chapter contains a set of Test Yourself questions that are designed to help you consolidate what you have read. We believe you will fi nd the information contained in this book quite useful for the competent practice of WISC-IV administration, scor-ing, and interpretation.

This chapter provides a brief overview of historical and contemporary views of the Wechsler scales as well as a brief historical account of Wechsler scale in-terpretation. In addition, the WISC-IV is described and its most salient features are highlighted. Finally, a brief summary of the controversy surrounding profi le interpretation with the Wechsler scales is provided, followed by a comprehensive rationale for the interpretive method described in this book.

HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY VIEWS

OF THE WECHSLER SCALES

Within the fi eld of psychological assessment, the clinical and psychometric fea-tures of the Wechsler intelligence scales have propelled these instruments to positions of dominance and popularity unrivaled in the history of intellectual assessment (Alfonso et al., 2000; Flanagan et al., 2000; Kaufman, 2003; Kaufman, Flanagan, Alfonso, & Mascolo, 2006). The concepts, methods, and procedures inherent in the design of the Wechsler scales have been so infl uential that they have guided much of the test development and research in the fi eld for more than a half century (Flanagan et al.). Virtually every reviewer of these scales, including those who have voiced signifi cant concerns about them, has acknowledged the monumental impact that they have had on scientifi c inquiry into the nature of


INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW 3

human intelligence and the structure of cognitive abilities. For example, despite the critical content and tone of their “Just Say No” to Wechsler subtest analysis article, McDermott, Fantuzzo, and Glutting (1990) assert their “deep respect for most of the Wechsler heritage” by stating that “were we to say everything we might about the Wechsler scales and their contributions to research and practice, by far our comments would be quite positive” (p. 291).

Likewise, Kamphaus (1993) observed that praise fl ows from the pages of most reviews that have been written about the Wechsler scales. Kaufman’s (1994b) review, entitled “King WISC the Third Assumes the Throne,” is a good example of the Wechsler scales’ unrivaled position of authority and dominance in the fi eld (Flanagan et al., 2001). Although the strengths of the Wechsler scales have always outweighed their weaknesses, critics have identifi ed some salient limitations of these instruments, particularly as they apply to their adherence to contemporary theory and research (e.g., Braden, 1995; Flanagan et al., 2000, 2008; Little, 1992; Kaufman et al., 2006; McGrew, 1994; Shaw, Swerdlik, & Laurent, 1993; Sternberg, 1993; Witt & Gresham, 1985). Nevertheless, it remains clear that when viewed from an historical perspective, the importance, infl uence, and contribution of David Wechsler’s scales to the science of intellectual assessment can be neither disputed nor diminished. The following paragraphs provide historical informa-tion about the nature of the Wechsler scales and summarize important develop-ments that have occurred over several decades in attempts to derive meaning from the Wechsler IQs and scaled scores.

BRIEF HISTORY OF INTELLIGENCE TEST DEVELOPMENT

Interest in testing intelligence developed in the latter half of the 19th century. Sir Francis Galton developed the fi rst comprehensive test of intelligence (Kaufman, 2000b) and is regarded as the father of the testing movement. Galton theorized that because people take in information through their senses, the most intelligent people must have the best developed senses; his interest was in studying gifted people. Galton’s scientifi c background led him to develop tasks that he could measure with accuracy. These were sensory and motor tasks, and although they were highly reliable, they proved ultimately to have limited validity as measures of the complex construct of intelligence.

Alfred Binet and his colleagues developed tasks to measure the intelligence of children within the Paris public schools shortly after the end of the 19th century (Binet & Simon, 1905). In Binet’s view, simple tasks like Galton’s did not discriminate between adults and children and were not suffi ciently complex to measure human intellect. In contrast to Galton’s sensorimotor tasks, Binet’s were primarily language oriented, emphasizing judgment, memory, comprehension, and reasoning. In the



1908 revision of his scale, Binet (Binet & Simon, 1908) included age levels ranging from 3 to 13 years; in its next revision in 1911, the Binet-Simon scale was extended to age 15 and included fi ve ungraded adult tests (Kaufman, 1990a).

The Binet-Simon scale was adapted and translated for use in the United States by Lewis Terman (1916). Binet’s test was also adapted by other Americans (e.g., Goddard, Kuhlmann, Wallin, and Yerkes). Many of the adaptations of Binet’s test were of virtual word-for-word translations; however, Terman had both the fore-sight to adapt the French test to American culture and the insight and patience to obtain a careful standardization sample of American children and adolescents (Kaufman, 2000b). Terman’s Stanford-Binet and its revisions (Terman & Merrill, 1937, 1960) led the fi eld as the most popular IQ tests in the United States for nearly 40 years. The latest edition of the Stanford-Binet—the Stanford-Binet In-telligence Scales–Fifth Edition (SB5; Roid, 2003)—is a testament to its continued popularity and longevity in the fi eld of intellectual assessment.

The assessment of children expanded rapidly to the assessment of adults when the United States entered World War I in 1917 (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997). The military needed a method by which to select offi cers and place recruits, so Arthur Otis (one of Terman’s graduate students) helped to develop a group-administered IQ test that had verbal content quite similar to that of Stanford-Binet tasks. This was called the Army Alpha. A group-administered test consist-ing of nonverbal items (Army Beta) was developed to assess immigrants who spoke little English. Ultimately, army psychologists developed the individually administered Army Performance Scale Examination to assess those who simply could not be tested validly on the group-administered Alpha or Beta tests (or who were suspected of malingering). Many of the nonverbal tasks included in the Beta and the individual examination had names (e.g., Picture Completion, Picture Arrangement, Digit Symbol, Mazes) that may look familiar to psycholo-gists today.

David Wechsler became an important contributor to the fi eld of assessment in the mid-1930s. Wechsler’s approach combined his strong clinical skills and statistical training (he studied under Charles Spearman and Karl Pearson in Eng-land) with his extensive experience in testing, which he gained as a World War I examiner. The direction that Wechsler took gave equal weight to the Stan-ford-Binet/Army Alpha system (Verbal Scale) and to the Performance Scale Examination/Army Beta system (Performance Scale). The focus that Wechsler had in creating his battery was one of obtaining dynamic clinical informa-tion from a set of tasks. This focus went well beyond the earlier use of tests simply as psychometric tools. The fi rst in the Wechsler series of tests was the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale (Wechsler, 1939). In 1946, Form II of the



Wechsler-Bellevue was developed, and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Chil-dren (WISC; Wechsler, 1949) was a subsequent downward extension of Form II that covered the age range of 5 to 15 years. Ultimately, the WISC became one of the most frequently used tests in the measurement of intellectual functioning (Stott & Ball, 1965). Although the practice of using tests designed for school-age children in assessing preschoolers was criticized because of the level of dif-fi culty for very young children, the downward extension of such tests was not uncommon prior to the development of tests specifi cally for children under age 5 (Kelley & Surbeck, 1991).

The primary focus of the testing movement until the 1960s was the assess-ment of children in public school and adults entering the military (Parker, 1981). However, in the 1960s the U.S. federal government’s increasing involvement in education spurred growth in the testing of preschool children. The development of government programs such as Head Start focused attention on the need for effective program evaluation and the adequacy of preschool assessment instru-ments (Kelley & Surbeck, 1991). In 1967, the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) was developed as a downward extension of certain WISC subtests but provided simpler items and an appropriate age-standardization sample. However, because the WPPSI accommodated the narrow 4:0- to 6:5-year age range, it failed to meet the needs of program evaluations because most new programs were for ages 3 to 5 years.

Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, played an important role in the continued development of cognitive assessment instruments. This law and subsequent legislation (IDEA of 1991, IDEA Amend-ments in 1997, and IDEA of 2004) included provisions that required an indi-vidualized education program (IEP) for each disabled child (Sattler, 2001). A key feature of the development of the IEP is the evaluation and diagnosis of the child’s level of functioning. Thus, these laws directly affected the continued devel-opment of standardized tests such as the WPPSI and WISC. The WISC has had three revisions (1974, 1991, 2003), and the WPPSI has had two (1989, 2002). The WISC-IV is the great-great-grandchild of the 1946 Wechsler-Bellevue Form II; it is also a cousin of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Third Edition (WAIS-III), which traces its lineage to Form I of the Wechsler-Bellevue. Figure 1.1 shows the history of the Wechsler scales.

In addition to the Wechsler scales and SB5, the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Ability (originally published in 1977) is in its third edition (WJ III; Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001); the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC; published in 1983) is in its second edition (KABC-II; Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004a); and the Differential Abilities Scale (DAS; Elliott,



1991) is in its second edition (DAS-II; Elliott, 2007). Other intelligence tests that have joined the contemporary scene include the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS; Naglieri & Das, 1997), the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT; Bracken & McCallum, 1997), and the Reynolds Intellectual Ability Scale (RIAS; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2003). What is most striking about recently revised and new tests of intelligence is their generally close alliance with theory, particularly the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory. (See Appendix A on the CD-ROM for detailed defi nitions of the CHC abilities and Appendix B on the CD-ROM for a list of major intelligence tests and the CHC abilities they measure.) For a complete discussion of contemporary intelligence tests and their underlying theoretical models, see Flanagan and Harrison (2005).

BRIEF HISTORY OF INTELLIGENCE TEST INTERPRETATION

Randy Kamphaus and his colleagues provided a detailed historical account of the many approaches that have been used to interpret an individual’s performance on the Wechsler scales (Kamphaus, Petoskey, & Morgan, 1997; Kamphaus, Winsor, Rowe, & Kim, 2005). These authors describe the history of intelligence test interpretation in terms of four waves: (a) quantifi cation of general level; (b) clinical profi le analysis; (c) psychometric profi le analysis; and (d) application of theory to

Figure 1.1 History of Wechsler Intelligence Scales

Note: WPPSI = Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence; WISC = Wechsler Intelligence

Scale for Children; WAIS = Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. From A. S. Kaufman & E. O. Lichten-

berger, Essentials of WISC-III and WPPSI-R Assessment. Copyright © 2000. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

This material is used by permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Wechsler-Bellevue II1946

Ages 10 to 79

WISC1949

Ages 5 to 15

WISC-R1974

Ages 6 to 16

WISC-III1991

Ages 6 to 16

WISC-IV2003

Ages 6 to 16

Wechsler-Bellevue I

1939Ages 7 to 69

WAIS1955

Ages 16 to 64

WAIS-R1981

Ages 16 to 74

WAIS-III1997

Ages 16 to 89

WPPSI1967

Ages 4 to 6.5

WPPSI-R1989

Ages 3 to 7.3

WPPSI-III2002

Ages 2.6 to 7.3



DON’T FORGET

Origin of WISC-IV Subtests

Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) Historical Source of Subtest

Vocabulary Stanford-Binet

Similarities Stanford-Binet

Comprehension Stanford-Binet/Army Alpha

(Information) Army Alpha

(Word Reasoning) Kaplan’s Word Context Test (Werner & Kaplan, 1950)

Perceptual Reasoning Index(PRI) Historical Source of Subtest

Block Design Kohs (1923)

Matrix Reasoning Raven’s Progressive Matrices (1938)

Picture Concepts Novel task developed by The Psychological Corporation

(Picture Completion) Army Beta/Army Performance Scale Examination

Working Memory Index (WMI) Historical Source of Subtest

Digit Span Stanford-Binet

Letter-Number Sequencing Gold, Carpenter, Randolph, Goldberg, and Weinberger (1997)

(Arithmetic) Stanford-Binet/Army Alpha

Processing Speed Index (PRI) Historical Source of Subtest

Coding Army Beta/Army Performance Scale Examination

Symbol Search Schneider and Shiffrin (1977) and S. Sternberg (1966)

(Cancellation) Diller et al. (1974), Moran and Mefford (1959), and Talland and Schwab (1964)

Source: From A. S. Kaufman & E. O. Lichtenberger, Essentials of WISC-III and WPPSI-R Assessment.

Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This material is used by permission of John Wiley &

Sons, Inc.

Note: Supplementary subtests appear in parentheses.



intelligence test interpretation. Kamphaus and colleagues’ organizational frame-work is used here to demonstrate the evolution of Wechsler test interpretation.

The First Wave: Quantifi cation of General Level

Intelligence tests, particularly the Stanford-Binet, were used widely because they offered an objective method of differentiating groups of people on the basis of their general intelligence. According to Kamphaus and colleagues (1997; Kamphaus et al., 2005), this represented the fi rst wave of intelligence test inter-pretation and was driven by practical considerations regarding the need to classify individuals into separate groups.

During the fi rst wave, the omnibus IQ was the focus of intelligence test in-terpretation. The prevalent infl uence of Spearman’s g theory of intelligence and the age-based Stanford-Binet scale, coupled with the fact that factor-analytic and other psychometric methods were not yet available for investigating multiple cognitive abilities, contributed to the almost exclusive use of global IQ for clas-sifi cation purposes. Hence, a number of classifi cation systems were proposed for organizing individuals according to their global IQs.

Early classifi cation systems included labels that corresponded to medical and legal terms, such as idiot, imbecile, and moron. Although the Wechsler scales did not contribute to the early classifi cation efforts during most of the fi rst wave of test interpretation, Wechsler eventually made his contribution. Specifi cally, he pro-posed a classifi cation system that relied less on evaluative labels (although it still contained the terms defective and borderline) and more on meaningful deviations from the mean, refl ecting the “prevalence of certain intelligence levels in the country at that time” (Kamphaus et al., 1997, p.35). With some refi nements over the years, interpretation of intelligence tests continues to be based on this type of classifi cation system. That is, distinctions are still made between individuals who are mentally retarded and gifted, for example. Our classifi cation categories are quite different from earlier classifi cation systems, as you will see in Chapter 4.

It appears that Wechsler accepted the prevailing ideas regarding g and the con-ceptualization of intelligence as a global entity, consistent with those already put forth by Terman, Binet, Spearman, and others (Reynolds & Kaufman, 1990), when he offered his own defi nition of intelligence. According to Wechsler (1939), intelligence is “the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment” (p. 3). He con-cluded that this defi nition “avoids singling out any ability, however esteemed (e.g., abstract reasoning), as crucial or overwhelmingly important” and implies that any one intelligence subtest is readily interchangeable with another (p. 3).



The Second Wave: Clinical Profi le Analysis

Kamphaus and colleagues (1997; Kamphaus et al., 2005) identifi ed the second wave of interpretation as clinical profi le analysis and stated that the publication of the Wechsler-Bellevue (W-B; Wechsler, 1939) was pivotal in spawning this ap-proach to interpretation. Clinical profi le analysis was a method designed to go beyond global IQ and interpret more specifi c aspects of an individual’s cognitive capabilities through the analysis of patterns of subtest scaled scores.

The Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale, Form I (W-B I), published in 1939 (an alternate form—the W-B II—was published in 1946), represented an approach to intellectual assessment of adults that was clearly differentiated from other instru-ments available at that time (e.g., the Binet scales). The W-B was composed of 11 separate subtests, including Information, Comprehension, Arithmetic, Digit Span, Similarities, Vocabulary, Picture Completion, Picture Arrangement, Block Design, Digit Symbol, and Coding. (The Vocabulary subtest was an alternate for W-B I.)

Perhaps the most notable feature introduced with the W-B, which advanced interpretation beyond classifi cation of global IQ, was the grouping of subtests into Verbal and Performance composites. The Verbal-Performance dichotomy represented an organizational structure that was based on the notion that intelli-gence could be expressed and measured through both verbal and nonverbal com-munication modalities. To clarify the Verbal-Performance distinction, Wechsler asserted that this dichotomy “does not imply that these are the only abilities in-volved in the tests. Nor does it presume that there are different kinds of intelli-gence, e.g., verbal, manipulative, etc. It merely implies that these are different ways in which intelligence may manifest itself ” (Wechsler, 1958, p. 64).

Another important feature pioneered in the W-B revolved around the con-struction and organization of subtests. At the time, the Binet scale was ordered and administered sequentially according to developmental age, irrespective of the task. In contrast, Wechsler utilized only 11 subtests, each scored by points rather than age, and each with suffi cient range of item diffi culties to encompass the entire age range of the scale.

In his writings, Wechsler often shifted between conceptualizing intelligence as either a singular entity (the fi rst wave) or a collection of specifi c mental abilities. At times he appeared to encourage the practice of subtest-level interpretation, sug-gesting that each subtest measured a relatively distinct cognitive ability (McDermott et al., 1990). To many, this position appeared to contradict his prior attempts not to equate general intelligence with the sum of separate cognitive or intellectual abili-ties. This shift in viewpoint may have been responsible, in part, for the development of interpretive methods such as profi le analysis (Flanagan et al., 2001).



Without a doubt, the innovations found in the W-B were impressive, practi-cal, and in many ways superior to other intelligence tests available in 1939. More importantly, the structure and organization of the W-B scale provided the impe-tus for Rapaport, Gill, and Schafer’s (1945–1946) innovative approaches to test interpretation, which included an attempt to understand the meaning behind the shape of a person’s profi le of scores. According to Kamphaus and colleagues (Kamphaus et al., 1997; Kamphaus et al., 2005), a new method of test interpreta-tion had developed under the assumption that “patterns of high and low subtest scores could presumably reveal diagnostic and psychotherapeutic considerations” (Kamphaus et al., 1997, p. 36). Thus, during the second wave of intelligence test interpretation, the W-B (1939) was the focal point from which a variety of in-terpretive procedures were developed for deriving diagnostic and prescriptive meaning from the shape of subtest profi les and the difference between Verbal and Performance IQs.

In addition to the scope of Rapaport and colleagues’ (1945–1946) diagnos-tic suggestions, their approach to understanding profi le shape led to a fl urry of investigations that sought to identify the psychological functions underlying an infi nite number of profi le patterns and their relationships to each other. Perhaps as a consequence of the clinical appeal of Rapaport and colleagues’ approach, Wechsler (1944) helped to relegate general-level assessment to the back burner while increasing the heat on clinical profi le analysis.

The search for meaning in subtest profi les and IQ differences was applied to the WISC (Wechsler, 1949), a downward extension of the W-B II. The WISC was composed of the same 11 subtests used in the W-B II but was modifi ed to assess intellectual functioning in children within the age range of 5 to 15 years. Subtests were grouped into the verbal and performance categories, as they were in the W-B II, with Information, Comprehension, Arithmetic, Digit Span, Similari-ties, and Vocabulary composing the Verbal Scale and Picture Completion, Picture Arrangement, Block Design, Digit Symbol, and Coding composing the Perfor-mance Scale. The WISC provided scaled scores for each subtest and yielded the same composites as the W-B II: Full Scale IQ (FSIQ), Verbal IQ (VIQ), and Performance IQ (PIQ).

Although the search for diagnostic meaning in subtest profi les and IQ differences was a more sophisticated approach to intelligence test interpretation as compared to the interpretive method of the fi rst wave, it also created methodological problems. For example, with enough practice, just about any astute clinician could provide a seemingly rational interpretation of an obtained profi le to fi t the known functional patterns of the examinee. Nonetheless, analysis of profi le shape and IQ differences did not result in diagnostic validity for the WISC. The next wave in intelligence



test interpretation sought to address the methodological fl aws in the clinical profi le analysis method (Kamphaus et al., 1997; Kamphaus et al., 2005).

The Third Wave: Psychometric Profi le Analysis

In 1955, the original W-B was revised and updated and its new name—Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS; Wechsler, 1955)—was aligned with the existing juvenile version (i.e., WISC). Major changes and revisions included (a) incorpo-rating Forms I and II of the W-B into a single scale with a broader range of item diffi culties; (b) realigning the target age range to include ages 16 years and older (which eliminated overlap with the WISC, creating a larger and more representa-tive norm sample); and (c) refi ning the subtests to improve reliability.

Within this general time period, technological developments in the form of computers and readily accessible statistical software packages to assist with intel-ligence test interpretation provided the impetus for what Kamphaus and col-leagues (1997; Kamphaus et al., 2005) called the third wave of interpretation—psychometric profi le analysis. The work of Cohen (1959), which was based primarily on the WISC and the then-new WAIS (Wechsler, 1955), sharply criticized the clinical profi le analysis tradition that defi ned the second wave. For example, Co-hen’s factor-analytic procedures revealed a viable three-factor solution for the WAIS that challenged the dichotomous Verbal-Performance model and remained the de facto standard for the Wechsler scales for decades and for the WISC, in par-ticular, until its third and fourth editions. The labels used by Cohen for the three Wechsler factors that emerged in his factor analysis of the WISC subtests (i.e., Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, Freedom from Distractibility) were the names of the Indexes on two subsequent editions of this test (WISC-R and WISC-III), spanning more than 2 decades.

By examining and removing the variance shared between subtests, Cohen demonstrated that the majority of Wechsler subtests had very poor specifi city (i.e., reliable, specifi c variance). Thus, the frequent clinical practice of interpreting in-dividual subtests as reliable measures of a presumed construct was not supported. Kamphaus and colleagues (1997; Kamphaus et al., 2005) summarize Cohen’s signifi cant contributions, which largely defi ned the third wave of test interpreta-tion, as threefold: (a) empirical support for the FSIQ based on analysis of shared variance between subtests; (b) development of the three-factor solution for inter-pretation of the Wechsler scales; and (c) revelation of limited subtest specifi city, questioning individual subtest interpretation.

The most vigorous and elegant application of psychometric profi le analysis to intelligence test interpretation occurred with the revision of the venerable WISC



as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Revised (WISC-R; Wechsler, 1974). Briefl y, the WISC-R utilized a larger, more representative norm sample than its predecessor; included more contemporary-looking graphics and updated items; eliminated content that was differentially familiar to specifi c groups; and included improved scoring and administration procedures. “Armed with the WISC-R, Kaufman (1979) articulated the essence of the psychometric profi le approach to intelligence test interpretation in his seminal book, Intelligent Testing

with the WISC-R (which was superseded by Intelligent Testing with the WISC-III; Kauf-man, 1994)” (Flanagan et al., 2000, p. 6).

Kaufman emphasized fl exibility in interpretation and provided a logical and sys-tematic approach that utilized principles from measurement theory (Flanagan & Alfonso, 2000). His approach was more complex than previous ones and required the examiner to have a greater level of psychometric expertise than might ordinar-ily be possessed by the average psychologist (Flanagan et al., 2000). Anastasi (1988) lauded and recognized that “the basic approach described by Kaufman undoubt-edly represents a major contribution to the clinical use of intelligence tests. Nev-ertheless, it should be recognized that its implementation requires a sophisticated clinician who is well informed in several fi elds of psychology” (p. 484).

In some respects, publication of Kaufman’s work can be viewed as an in-dictment against the poorly reasoned and unsubstantiated interpretation of the Wechsler scales that had sprung up in the second wave (clinical profi le analysis; Flanagan et al., 2000). Kaufman’s ultimate message centered on the notion that interpretation of Wechsler intelligence test performance must be conducted with a higher than usual degree of psychometric precision and based on credible and dependable evidence, rather than merely the clinical lore that surrounded earlier interpretive methods.

Despite the enormous body of literature that has mounted over the years re-garding profi le analysis of the Wechsler scales, this form of interpretation, even when upgraded with the rigor of psychometrics, has been regarded as a perilous endeavor primarily because it lacks empirical support and is not grounded in a well-validated theory of intelligence. With over 75 different profi le types dis-cussed in a variety of areas, including neuropsychology, personality, learning dis-abilities, and juvenile delinquency (McDermott et al., 1990), there is considerable temptation to believe that the fi ndings of this type of analysis alone are reliable. Nevertheless, many studies (e.g., Hale, 1979; Hale & Landino, 1981; Hale & Saxe, 1983) have demonstrated consistently that “profi le and scatter analysis is not de-fensible” (Kavale & Forness, 1984, p. 136; also see Glutting, McDermott, Watkins, Kush, & Konold, 1997). In a meta-analysis of 119 studies of the WISC-R subtest data, Mueller, Dennis, and Short (1986) concluded that using profi le analysis with


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®WISC - download.e-bookshelf.de · series, including Essentials of WJ III™ Cognitive Abilities Assessment and Essentials of Cross-Battery Assessment. ALAN S. KAUFMAN, PHD, is Professor